Stories Jesus Told: A 6-Day Reading Plan Sample

The Parable of Lost Things

If you’ve ever lost or misplaced something important, you know how alarming it is when you realize it’s missing and what lengths you’ll go to attempt to get it back. In Jesus’s parables of lost things, we get a good look at the heart of God.

Jesus was speaking to a diverse crowd of people. The text tells us there were “tax collectors and sinners” as well as “Pharisees and scribes” who had gathered to hear Jesus speak (Luke 15:1-2). In Jesus’s day, tax collectors and sinners were the two most maligned groups of people amongst the religious people. These were people who lived in such a way that was offensive to the religious elite. And yet, Jesus had also drawn the attention of the Pharisees and scribes—and He taught both groups the same message.

These stories reveal God’s love for the lost. Why does He love the lost? Because He created them. Every single human being, no matter where they are in their spiritual journey, they’ve been created by God and they are His image-bearers. And all of us, at some point, were lost and disconnected from God. Notice how Jesus told the story to both the outcasts and the religious elite. No person or group was excluded from Jesus’s circle.

Jesus’s mission was to save the world. But keep in mind that loving the lost and being with them doesn’t mean He partook of all the things they partook of. He was willing to be present, but He never participated in sin. Being around lost people will not taint us; it did not taint Jesus.

Jesus loves you just as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you like that. We all show up and Jesus receives us, and then Jesus starts to get to work on us. Jesus says, “I want to do a work in your life; I want to transform your life.” Our role is simply to keep responding to Jesus.